Supported by
The Women’s Magazines of 2023 Are in a Facebook Group and Your Inbox
People still want to know what to wear and what is actually worth buying — and they want to trust the person telling them.
Ms. Maheshwari is a millennial who covers TikTok and the media industry and recently bought a pair of high-waisted shorts thanks to chatter on a Facebook group.
What should a 33-year-old postpartum woman wear to her cousin’s 21st birthday party in New York City?
How should a 44-year-old mother of three balance comfort with Eras-Tour-appropriate glitter when she goes to see Taylor Swift?
What’s the right makeup brand for a typically barefaced 39-year-old who wants to look dewy in five minutes?
These are the sorts of questions that fashion and beauty editors at women’s magazines would answer in millions of monthly mailings. For decades, brands and advertisers coveted a mention from experts in the likes of Glamour and InStyle. That world has been blown apart by social media, which sent the majority of those publications online (if they survived at all) and elevated influencers and vloggers over editors.
But some women, still craving careful curation, want fashion, beauty and lifestyle recommendations beyond the glossy aesthetic of Instagram and TikTok. They’re finding them through Facebook groups and Substack newsletters — in many cases, started by former journalists.
The questions above, for example, are typical queries in “Gee Thanks, Just Bought It!,” a shopping community of roughly 18,000 strangers on Facebook, who are eager to share recommendations.
Advertisement